ABSTRACT
As one of the typical representative of dark tea, Anhua dark tea have been received more attention due to its significant hypolipidemic effects in recent years, and more investigation has been performed on the components and activities of Anhua dark tea especially on Fuzhuan brick tea. In this paper, the recent study on chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Anhua dark tea was summarized, so as to provide reference for its further investigation and development of relative production.
ABSTRACT
The genus Clausena Burm.f. (family Rutaceae) concerns 25 species all over the world, and 13 species are native to China especially in the southwest and south of China, Yunnan Province has 11 species. The chemical composition from Clausena Burm.f. included carbazole alkaloids, coumarins, sesquiterpenes, benzene derivatives, tetranortriterpenoids, flavonoids and so on. The carbazole alkaloids have attracted much attention in recent years. The recent research progress on carbazole alkaloids from Clausena Burm.f. was reviewed in this paper about the structures, isolation, structure elucidation, and biological activities.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Evidence indicates that berry anthocyanins are anti-atherogenic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory. However, berries differ vastly in their anthocyanin composition and thus potentially in their biological and metabolic effects. The present study compared hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties of blueberry (BB), blackberry (BK), and blackcurrant (BC) in a diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. MATERIALS/METHODS: Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a high fat (HF; 35% fat, w/w) control diet or a HF diet supplemented with freeze-dried 5% BB, 6.3% BK or 5.7% BC for 12 weeks (10 mice/group) to achieve the same total anthocyanin content in each diet. Plasma lipids, antioxidant status and pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured. The expression of genes involved in antioxidant defense, inflammation, and lipid metabolism was determined in the liver, epididymal adipose tissue, proximal intestine, and skeletal muscle. Histological analysis was performed to identify crown-like structure (CLS) in epididymal fat pads to determine macrophage infiltration. RESULTS: No differences were noted between the control and any berry-fed groups in plasma levels of liver enzymes, insulin, glucose, ferric reducing antioxidant power, superoxide dismutase, and tumor necrosis factor α. However, BK significantly lowered plasma triglyceride compared with the HF control and other berries, whereas BC significantly reduced F4/80 mRNA and the number of CLS in the epididymal fat pad, indicative of less macrophage infiltration. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides evidence that BB, BK and BC with varying anthocyanin composition differentially affect plasma lipids and adipose macrophage infiltration in DIO mice, but with no differences in their antioxidant capacity and anti-inflammatory potential.